Rising Sun: Laidback Fun in Lucky Star

Good morning, reader-sama! It’s time for yet another Rising Sun, reader-sama. Would you like to guess what the work we’re looking at today is, reader-sama? Okay, I’ll stop now.

Today, we’re going to do a review of Lucky Star, which has been rescued from the out-of-print pile by Funimation Productions.

Lucky Star, adapted from the newspaper comics by Kagami Yoshimizu, tells of the day-to-day lives of four juniors: Konata Izumi, Tsukasa and Kagami Hiragi and Miyuki Takura. There’s no on-going plot, just a sequence of running gags about different traits. For example: Konata is a geek, so she’ll talk about things that’ll either fly over her friends heads or make them uncomfortable. I personally like this about Lucky Star. After a hard day of school, or watching the drama unfold in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, it makes sense to put on something as laidback as this. And besides, if you’re a fan primarilly of 70’s, 80’s and 90’s anime, a lot of the jokes make more sense.

Aesthetics are easily one of the high notes of this series. Having been produced by Kyoto Animation, everything moves with a sharp fluidity. This is complimented by the fact that some specific characters are animated in a completely different style from everyone else. And then there’s the music. The beats compliment the laidback attitude of the series very well, and some pieces are actually pretty memorable. And who could forget the hyper-energetic theme song?

And then there’s the voice cast. Long story short, Funimation did not make this dub, despite Lucky Star being on their service. The series, as was the case with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, was originally licensed by the now non-existent Bandai Entertainment, and Funimation obtained the license in 2014, and recently released it on Blu-Ray. That said, I really like the dub. All the Haruhi actors make appearances here, which makes sense, given the fact that the central cast makes cameos. They perform the characters very well, and the actors are all distinct. All these elements and great things come together to make a fun peek into a Japanese student’s life.

So if you’re looking for something akin to The Big Bang Theory, don’t be afraid to get a FunimationNOW trial and check out Lucky Star, which is also available on Blu-Ray/DVD combo packs.